Ravyn's Flight by Patti O'Shea Page B

story. You have your orders. Your only options are to follow them or think about the penalty for disobeying a direct order. Am I making myself clear?”
    “Yes, sir.”
    “Do you have anything else you want to add?”
    “No, sir.”
    “You’re dismissed.”
    Alex stood, snapped off the required salute, and when it was returned, headed for the door.
    “Colonel, see my assistant on your way out. She has a file of compiled information for you.”
    *** *** ***
    Alex didn’t rely solely on the general’s information. He gathered his own. Both flight crews assigned to this mission pleased him. Their selection probably had more to do with the media coverage than any concern Blowhard had about the success of the rescue, but Alex would take them any way he could get them.
    The five men he’d personally chosen for the mission came from Spec Ops as the general had predicted they would. But not for the reason the general had thought. No, Alex had chosen them because he knew beyond doubt the situation on J Nine was bad and Special Operations had the best warriors in the military. He’d worked with all five men before, assuring that they could function well as a team.
    The doctor CAT Command had assigned came as a pleasant surprise. Gwen Mitchell was ex-military. She had, in fact, trained under his stepmother, Marie. The doctor had joined CAT after marrying a biologist already with the teams. In her forties, she’d had excellent reviews for her entire career and Dr. Mitchell wouldn’t be useless if the situation deteriorated and she was forced to pick up a weapon.
    His communications specialist was another story. Stacey Johnson from Podunk, Iowa. She was Ravyn’s best friend and his sister had talked about her constantly, but he’d only met her once at comm school graduation. Although she had six years on his sister, Ravyn had seemed more assured, more confident. Stacey hadn’t even been able to look him in the eye for more than a couple of seconds at a time.
    Alex ran a hand over the top of his head. With no training, no experience handling hot situations and no knowledge of military comm procedures, she’d be a liability. He’d have to watch over her every minute to keep her from getting herself or someone else killed. Unless he could convince her to withdraw from the team. He’d found a comm spec on the CAT roster who had military time in. Granted, his record hadn’t been stellar, but at least the man would be able to pull his own weight.
    He mulled over what he knew about her, which was a lot thanks to Ravyn, then pushed himself to his feet. Stacey Johnson was the type who was fifteen minutes early for everything. The rest of the team wouldn’t appear until briefing time. If he hustled down to the room, he’d have a good ten minutes to convince her it was in everyone’s best interest to withdraw.
    Alex barely slowed long enough to return salutes on his trek to the meeting room. Sure enough, there was one woman sitting alone in the room when he arrived. He had only a vague recollection of his sister’s friend, but he would never forget that striking shade of strawberry blond hair.
    He hesitated for a moment trying to think of the best way to accomplish his goal. Before he could formulate a plan, she turned and caught him staring. Alex moved into the room with a casualness he did not feel.
    “Hello, Stacey Johnson. I’m Alex Sullivan. I don’t know if you remember, but we met at Ravyn’s graduation.” He held out his hand. Her hesitation was brief, but he caught it. When her hand met his, it was ice cold and damp. Talking her off the mission would be a piece of cake. She was already nervous and they hadn’t left Earth. Hell, they hadn’t even had the briefing yet.
    “It was my graduation too,” she pointed out.
    The assertion had Alex mentally stumbling for a second before he said, “Yes, of course.” He wasn’t used to being off balance, but with one, declarative sentence this woman had managed